Chaos erupted outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, as a conservative journalist found himself in handcuffs amidst a night of violent clashes.
Fox News reported that on Thursday night, Nick Sortor, a 27-year-old journalist from Washington, D.C., was arrested along with two others during protests that spiraled into physical altercations, charged with disorderly conduct in the second degree.
The evening began with tension already simmering outside the ICE building, as Portland Police Bureau officers kept a watchful eye on the crowd.
Around 8:09 p.m., dialogue officers spotted two men trading blows near the facility’s driveway, with one ending up on the ground but refusing medical aid.
Federal law enforcement detained both individuals involved in the scuffle, though neither wished to file a report, and they were subsequently released. Yet, the unrest was far from over, as additional fights broke out, prompting police to remain on high alert.
By 11:16 p.m., the situation had deteriorated enough for the Portland Police Rapid Response Team to step in, cuffing three individuals, including Sortor, Son Mi Yi, 43, of Portland, and Angela Davis, 49, of Vernonia, Oregon.
All three were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of disorderly conduct, a charge that Sortor claims blindsided him while covering the chaotic scene.
Sortor’s footage, shared on his X account, captured the raw intensity of the night, including a protester leaping onto federal property and daring agents to act, only to be swiftly arrested and dragged inside.
Sortor, who was documenting the unrest, alleges he was singled out by aggressive protesters before his arrest, a claim that raises questions about the safety of journalists in such volatile settings.
“This was as big a surprise to me as it was to everybody else,” Sortor told Fox News, recounting how he was jumped and stumbled toward police for safety, never expecting to be the one detained.
One has to wonder if the line between reporting and becoming the story has blurred too far when a journalist filming public unrest ends up in cuffs—perhaps Portland’s streets are no place for a camera without a shield.
According to Cammila Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, the facility has endured over 100 consecutive nights of violence, far beyond mere chants and placards.
Wamsley described a grim reality of bottle rockets striking the building, rocks smashing windows, lasers aimed at officers’ eyes, and even staff being followed home or doxxed—a troubling escalation that speaks to a deeper breakdown of civil discourse.
While some may argue these protests stem from genuine policy disagreements, the shift to personal harassment and property damage undercuts any moral high ground; surely, there’s a better way to debate immigration enforcement than shattering glass or blinding officers.
Wamsley also pointed out the limited presence of Portland police at these nightly clashes, attributing it to directives from the mayor and city council, which leaves federal agents largely on their own.
Sortor’s arrest, coupled with his allegations of being targeted, adds fuel to the fire of conservative critiques about selective enforcement and the stifling of free press in progressive strongholds like Portland.
